The party was founded in 1996 as the Pacifist Party by a group of activists inGuildford, Surrey. It was registered with the Electoral Commission in 2001 as “The Peace Party – Non-violence, Justice, Environment”.

The Peace Party gained its first councillor in Bradford in November 2012 when Imdad Hussain joined after being suspended from the Labour Party for failing to declare a company directorship. He stood for the party in the Middlesbrough by-election, 2012[3] achieving the Peace Party’s first saved deposit with 1,060 votes (6.3%), only 3 votes fewer than the Conservativecandidate. However, Hussain lost his council seat in the 2014 local election, coming second to Labour.[4]